Ten Questions with 27 COBALT

You may have seen this band play The Kazbar Llanelli  or at the Ferryside Glastonferri Gig recently but  just who are 27 COBALT ? Llanelli Music Scene Finds out…..

1.Tell us about yourselves, ( Names and role in the band)

Alun Jones – Guitars and vocals

Mike Thomas – Drums

Jason Duxberry – Bass Guitar

2. How long has the band been together?

Mike and Al have been in various bands together since the late 1980s, but the current lineup, with Jason on bass got together in 1996. We were pretty active for a couple of years, before disbanding in 1998. We all went off and concentrated on our careers, raising young families etc. Music took a bit of a back seat until we all met up again last summer. For the first time in 15 years the three of us were in the same room together and we started talking about some of our old songs. After a few beers, we were like “Why did we ever split up…?”

3.What are your musical influences and do you think they come through in your sound ?

It’s difficult to answer this without sounding like a cliché. As school kids we were all into the Bay Area Thrash Metal movement. Master of Puppets was probably why we picked up instruments. We sound nothing like those thrash bands, but you can definitely hear that hard sound in Mike’s drumming. He bangs! Classic American punk features strongly in our record collections too as does more alternative stuff.

The whole Seattle thing happened as we were starting to play in our first bands. It was a huge movement and difficult to ignore. Jase got a copy of Bleach and we were like… “WOW”!

If we were forced to define our sound … We write short, catchy, loud, energetic songs. I don’t think we have a single song that breaks the three minutes barrier – most barely make two. Our song “I’m better looking than I look” manages three verses, three chorus and two mid sections in 59 seconds – check it out on our Facebook page.

Every song has to have a memorable tune or a strong hook.

4. Are there any other bands or artists out there who you would compare your selves to?

That’s not for us to say really. If you are in a band it’s difficult to hear what you really sound like. It sounds silly, but your ears are tainted somehow by the fact that you wrote and arranged the music.

We just write for ourselves. We have no interest in recognition, success or making money. It’s all about being creative. Al likes writing songs and coming up with our art work and Jason is into whole sound engineering and recording process. Mike is the one that keeps us on an even keel. We work well as a combination.

5.What are 27 Cobalt’s plans for the rest of 2013 ?

Family commitments mean that 27 Cobalt are taking most of the school summer holiday’s off. We intend coming back to the Llanelli live scene in September. In addition, we were recently asked by a BBC producer to submit demo tracks for an evening radio show, so we’ll see where that leads.

6.Are there any funny stories behind why a particular song was written?

No funny stories really and our subject matter is pretty random, but we always write songs using the same method…

Al usual comes up with the basic song ideas – vocal melodies and chord progressions/riffs. He records them on a phone and sends audio files via e-mail to Mike and Jase. If the tune sticks in all our heads after a couple of listens we’ll develop the song in rehearsal. Mike and Jase then make suggestions as we go along. We usually try songs in a couple of different keys and styles until we settle on an arrangement that we’ll use in our shows. We’re pretty brutal too – not everything makes it onto the set list.

7. Are there any messages you are trying to get across in the music?

Do it yourself! Just get in a band and play. Don’t let anyone tell you that you are rubbish. If you are enjoying yourself – how can it rubbish?

It’s never been easier to get your band’s music out to the public. You can record using the modern software that’s out there and get it out to people via various outlets on the internet for practically no money at all. You can even buy decent instruments from China these days that don’t cost the earth. Just do it! Listen to early Misfits records – they can barely play, but the music is brilliant!

When we started, we had to go to London to play gigs for no money in the hope that we’d get signed. It was the done thing if you wanted to put a record out then. Thankfully, those days are gone!

8.What are the downsides / upsides of being in the band ?

Upsides – it’s still fun even after all these years. Downsides – we get frustrated by the lack of time we have available in our lives for writing, rehearsing and playing live.

9.Where can people who want to know more about 27 Cobalt find out about you? Eg facebook

You can like us on Facebook. Everything we do appears there and links from there.

10.Your track 12 Rounds with Satan is listed on the Llanelli Music Scene free downloadable CD besides this, where can people listen to more of your music online or buy your CD’s etc EG Facebook or Soundcloud.

Again, quite a few of our tracks are on Facebook. Being just a little bit older, we still like to have CDs with artwork etc. Send us a message on Facebook and we’ll happily send you a free CD in the post.

Anything else you would like us to add to the feature….

The three of us have been around the local music scene on and off for the past 20 years. It has never been as vibrant as it is right now – especially in Llanelli. We’ve heard heaps of great talent and people should really check out the gigs being put on.

27 Cobalt photo by Mike Richards

Watch out for 27 Cobalt playing a gig near you in the coming months and they will be playing the Llanelli Music Scene Band of the Month night on 28th September 2013 at the Kilkenny Cat, Llanelli.

Questions byTrudi Goldsmith.

Thanks to 27 Cobalt.

Check out 27 Cobalt’s facebook page here

Check out Mike Richards photographic page here

www.facebook.com/llanellimusicscene